We find ourselves scratching our collective heads regarding a television ad U.S. Sen. Susan Collins placed attacking “out of state money” used to fund advertising against her.

Presumably, she’s taken issue with a MoveOn.org ad attacking her for supporting S.J. Res 19, a Constitutional amendment that would, according to a bill cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Angus King, “regulate and limit the raising and spending of money for federal political campaigns.”

Collins voted against the amendment and the bill was defeated 54-42 in the Senate.

In a Sept. 11 press release, King detailed his angst with the result, “While I am disappointed today’s vote failed, I will continue to look for ways to forward on campaign financing reform — particularly on the issue of disclosure, which the Supreme Court has expressly left open to us to address.

“Without some sort of action by the Senate, I believe the onslaught of unchecked money into our political system will only continue to undermine our democracy and erode the public’s confidence in us as elected officials,” the independent senator concluded.

We think King’s position is well stated but understand that there can be disagreements among reasonable people.

But why vote against limiting the spending of money for federal political campaigns, and then attack the concept when it’s used against you?

We’d like to see an end to all televised attack ads. Senator Collins — how about getting on the right side of this issue and returning democracy to local people?